Chapter 161: Taking Out Ping Tian

Hearing the speech from behind, Chen Yongren turned around to look.

A middle-aged man stood at the doorway, holding some daily necessities in his arms, his eyes wary as he sized up Chen Yongren.

Chen Yongren activated his scan eye.

A string of data appeared before his eyes.

Name: Yang San.

Age: 54.

Gender: Male.

Nationality: Huaxia Songhu.

Current status: Landlord.

Recent situation: Tenant 202 has defaulted on rent and vanished, leaving him fuming over the lost rent.

So he's the landlord; Chen Yongren felt a stir inside.

Perhaps he could get some information from him.

"Are you the landlord? I saw the rental notice downstairs and came up to take a look." Chen Yongren smiled: "I saw the room door unlocked and thought the landlord might be inside."

Upon hearing Chen Yongren wanted to rent, Yang San's expression softened a bit: "You want to rent a place?"

Chen Yongren nodded.

"Let me be clear up front: rent is one month's deposit and six months' payment; utilities and other fees are your responsibility." Yang San stated bluntly.

"What?" Chen Yongren feigned surprise: "I'm just looking to rent; where does a one-deposit six-pay rule come from? Even the public concessions don't have such a practice."

"Rent or don't!" Yang San spoke fiercely: "The last tenant who rented from me owed me a month's rent, vanished without a trace, and just ran off."

"If I don't take extra deposit, what do I do if you run away?"

"The previous tenant?" Chen Yongren asked casually.

As soon as Chen Yongren asked, Yang San seemed to trigger something; without further prompting, he launched into his story.

The guy who rented this place was called Jiang Fan.

That name matched the one in his memory.

As for what he looked like, since the rental happened at night and Jiang Fan came and went like a dragon—showing his head but not his tail—spending most of his time holed up in the room, Yang San had little memory of him.

He'd rented it for about half a year.

This morning at 7 a. m., Yang San had intended to come knock on the door to collect Jiang Fan's overdue rent.

No one answered, so when Yang San opened the door he discovered...

Jiang Fan, person and luggage, had completely disappeared without a trace.

"Do you think it's easy for me to manage the place every day?"

"You just need to sleep each day; I have far more to worry about."

"Garbage fees, utilities—I calculate every penny clearly."

Yang San kept complaining.

Chen Yongren couldn't be bothered with him and just walked out.

After killing someone, he just ran.

It seems Jiang Fan had planned this in advance.

Yang San grew anxious.

If he could rent the place out sooner, that'd be a month's income.

"Hey, don't go, little brother."

"Deposit one, pay five... then four, then three..."

Seeing Chen Yongren ignore him, Yang San lowered his demands one by one.

Leaving the apartment building, Chen Yongren headed home.

Although today was supposed to be the day he taught Gao Liu Meizi Chinese, Gao Liu Xiuji was injured so severely.

As his wife, Gao Liu Meizi ought to look after him out of both sentiment and duty—how could she...

He walked to the street where his home was.

Chen Yongren then heard a string of voices in his ears.

"That Gao Liu bastard is so hateful—he actually hit me in the hospital."

"It's not like I made him get hurt; what right does he have to hit me?"

"I don't want to have anything to do with him anymore..."

Hmm?

Has Gao Liu Meizi arrived?

Listening to her inner voice, it seems this little lady isn't having an easy time.

Chen Yongren continued walking toward his home.

He saw a beautiful woman standing at the alley entrance, covering her face and standing there in a daze.

"Madam Gao Liu?" Chen Yongren approached her, feigning surprise.

Getting closer, Chen Yongren noticed Gao Liu Meizi's hair was disheveled, a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth, and on her pretty face one could faintly see the imprint of a slap.

Tsk.

This little lady hasn't been spared a beating.

Hearing the familiar voice in her ears, Gao Liu Meizi's heart jolted; she followed the sound, saw Chen Yongren beside her, and said aggrievedly: "Chen Sang."

"Madam Meizi, I thought..." Chen Yongren paused deliberately; "Come, hurry back home with me, how did you end up like this?"

"What do you think?" Gao Liu Meijinzi followed behind Chen Yongren, saying aggrievedly.

"Director Gao Liu is injured; I thought you would take care of him." Chen Yongren said; "I've made all the preparations, I didn't expect not to see you today."

After a pause, Chen Yongren asked again: "How is Director Gao Liu? Is he feeling better?"

"Him?" Gao Liu Meijinzi didn't want to talk about it.

Seeing that, Chen Yongren didn't ask further; the two returned home and went to the study.

Gao Liu Meijinzi could no longer hold back, and poured out all her grievances.

"I've let you down, Meizi." Chen Yongren reached out to wipe the tears from Meizi's eyes, showing thoughtful care and affection.

"Meizi." Chen Yongren suddenly said.

"Huh?" Gao Liu Meijinzi didn't understand.

"Has he been here?" Chen Yongren smirked.

"How annoying..." Gao Liu Meijinzi punched Chen Yongren's chest, blushing as she said: "He's nowhere near as capable as you."

After being comforted by Chen Yongren, Gao Liu Meijinzi's condition visibly improved a lot.

When she came, she was crying with tears like pear blossoms in rain.

When she left, her face was glowing with a healthy red.

Under Chen Yongren's comfort, Gao Liu Meijinzi no longer insisted, and decided to return to the hospital.

Only after coaxing Gao Liu Xiushi could they help Chen Sang advance, giving them more chances to be together.

Seeing that the time was about right, Chen Yongren made an excuse to leave home and headed for Hua Mao Hotel.

Hua Lei had long been accustomed to this, and didn't say more.

After disguising himself and casually changing his appearance, Chen Yongren arrived at the coffee shop on the first floor of Hua Mao Hotel.

He ordered a cup of coffee and sat in a spot near Ping Tian Cilang.

Because the distance between them was close, Chen Yongren could clearly see Ping Tian Cilang anxiously sitting on the sofa, occasionally raising his hand to check his watch.

"It's so late already, where has Jie Cheng gone?"

"Why hasn't he shown up yet?"

"This guy, could he be planning to stand me up?"

"You've guessed all of this; when the time comes, I'll give you a swift reward."

Chen Yongren leisurely sipped his coffee.

Another hour passed.

Ping Tian Cilang's expression grew increasingly impatient.

"This bastard must have figured it out, realized the price was too low, and doesn't want to do this deal."

"What patriotism? That's just nonsense."

"Don't let me see him, or I'll surely give him a harsh lesson!"

Ping Tian Cilang angrily stood up, grabbed a suitcase, and hurried toward the elevator.

Seeing Ping Tian Cilang straining to lift the suitcase,

this suitcase must be full of money.

Chen Yongren leisurely followed behind Ping Tian Cilang.

He followed him into the elevator, watching Ping Tian Cilang enter room 704.

Seeing no one around, Chen Yongren sneaked to the door of room 704 and knocked.

"Dang dang dang~"

"Who is it?"

"Sir, room service."

"Just a moment." Ping Tian Cilang's voice sounded.

Not long after.

The door opened, and this old man had changed into a bathrobe, appearing to be preparing to take a bath.

Seeing Chen Yongren before him, this was hardly any servant.

Ping Tian Cilang immediately sensed something was wrong, about to shout.

Chen Yongren swiftly moved in, gripping his throat.

"Crack~"